Saturday, June 29, 2013

BBC News - Cracking crime with Twitter in Spain

BBC News - Cracking crime with Twitter in Spain: With the use of the information gathered on Twitter, in the past year the Spanish police have been able to warn people against new viruses and online fraud, continue the hunt for some of the most-wanted fugitives and arrest people accused of spreading child pornography on the internet.

Input from Spanish users of Twitter is proving a vital part of the strategy.

One of the biggest coups for the Spanish police was a tweet raid last year that led to the seizure of 277kg (610lb) of cocaine, hidden in cowhide which arrived in Spain from the Dominican Republic.

The Spanish police received the tip-off by email and this allowed them to identify and capture a drug-trafficking ring distributing cocaine in Spain.

According to Spanish police, they are just trying to use the online tools available to become what they call "police 3.0", and a model for other police forces worldwide.